Tolkien Etchings

#2 Pencil on Rives BFK

30 x 22 inches

My latest illustration based on The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings, and The Children of Hurin, by J.R.R.Tolkien is a pencil drawing of Yavanna, the Valar, and one of the Aratar, the wife of Alue, and known to the Elves as Kementari. So far many of the images in my series have been of dark and/or violent subjects, such as Turin slaying Glaurung, Glorfindel battling the balrog, or Luthien Tinuviel and Beren confronting Morgoth in the nethermost chamber of Thangorodrim. So this piece came about as I sorely needed to create some images of a lighter tone. Though Yavanna was responsible for creating all growing things, I wanted to present her among flowers, as this would give the brightest most positive image possible.

As I wanted to keep this image very light, both emotionally and visually, I used only a number 2 pencil. The particular brand I used has slightly harder lead than others, making it very easy to blend. It also has possibly the most romantic name of any drawing implement I’ve ever heard of, Mirado Black Warrior. (no, I’m not making it up)